What does it mean to be a "good person" or a "bad person"? Can bad people learn to be better? Is there life after death? These are fairly heavy, often quite debated questions that come up in the course of a lifetime and while we all probably have our own answers to these questions, they're not the kind of questions that can be definitively answered. That won't stop NBC's new afterlife comedy The Good Place from trying though, and those questions are at the heart of Michael Schur's (Co-Creator of Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine) provocative new show which debuted Monday night with a 2-part premiere, before it moves to it's regular timeslot on Thursdays.
In The Good Place, there is an afterlife but it's not like anything you've been taught about. All major religions got maybe 5% of it right (Except for Doug Forcett, a stoner who lived in Calgary who guessed 92% of it while on mushrooms one night). Essentially every action you do in life from eating a sandwich to poisoning a river is given a positive or negative point value based on how much good or bad it sends through the universe. This is all monitored and once you die your score is added up. Those with the highest of high scores go to The Good Place, everyone else goes to "The Bad Place" (though what this means is left unexplained beyond a terrifying audio recording of roars and screams.). The Good Place is a series of neighbourhoods, perfectly designed for the 322 people that live in each one by an architect who oversees the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood The Good Place is set in is a pleasant suburban setting with a frozen yogurt shop on every corner (something all neighbourhoods have in common) and stores with names like "Everything Fits" or "All The Books". Each resident lives in a house perfectly designed to their tastes and meets their soulmate who is their universe-ordained perfect match. A walking database of knowledge named Janet (D'Arcy Carden) pops up in an instant to help with any question or request. All the words spoken are translated into the listeners preferred language. It's paradise. A very exclusive paradise (Mozart, Picasso, Elvis, basically all artists, every President except Lincoln, and Florence Nightingale all missed the cut) but paradise all the same.
Into paradise comes Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a woman who may have had an embarrassing death (A shopping cart mishap while trying to pick up "Lonely Girl's Margarita Mix For One" caused her to get swept into the street where she was hit by a mobile billboard truck for an Erectile Dysfunction product and the first paramedic on scene was an ex-boyfriend), but who's exemplary life as a lawyer who got innocent people off death row and who routinely went on humanitarian missions helping orphans has earned her a place in paradise, according to Neighbourhood Architect Michael (Ted Danson), along people like smug do-gooder Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil), a monk who won't break his vow of silence even in death and Tahani's soulmate Jianyu (Mandy Jacinto), and Eleanor's soulmate Chidi (William Jackson Harper) who was a professor who taught Ethics and Moral Philosophu. The only problem is that there's been a mistake and she's not the person Michael thinks she is. She was the kind of person who sold fake medicine to seniors (and was salesperson of the year 5 years in a row), the kind of person who would drink before work drink night to get out of her turn being designated driver and the kind of person who deserves the bad place. Of course she would rather stay in The Good Place and so she turns to Chidi, who just might be willing to help teach her how to be a good person so she can fit in and avoid getting caught. It won't be easy (especially because Eleanor's negative actions cause catastrophic storms to affect the neighbourhood) but with paradise on the line, Eleanor has no choice but to try and pull it off.
Everything Is Fine/Flying, the 2-part opener of The Good Place, has a lot to get through in about 42 minutes of television. It has to introduce the characters, lay out the premise, set up an elaborate world and explain how it works, while telling a compelling story and scoring laughs along the way. For the most part it pulls it off. NBC made a smart choice in airing both parts of the episode together because Everything Is Fine would be a lot less satisfying (albeit pretty entertaining as any episode of television that ends with the chaotic sight of giant ladybugs and frogs, flying shrimp, and a herd of giraffes would have to be) without Flying right after to complete the story it's telling. Additionally Everything Is Fine has to take the burden of laying out the majority of the exposition of how The Good Place works so there's not time for much else. Luckily the exposition is laid out in a way that's entertaining and allows for plenty of jokes (I transcribed what I could of the elaborate point system that determines who gets in The Good Place below. This show is looking to be heaven for lovers of blink-and-you-miss-it gags like that) and Kristen Bell and Ted Danson are charming enough to keep the pilot from becoming dull or uninteresting. Flying is more set-up, but it gets to focus on the story of Eleanor trying to convince Chidi that there's a part of her worth saving so he'll help her try to keep her secret. It's a story that feels more complete than the story of Everything Is Fine, while also creating a compelling path for the series to move forward and now that we have that path, subsequent episodes should be a lot smoother. Also on the plus, the mystery of how and why Eleanor wound up here that the show subtly sets up over these first couple episodes is already compelling and offers a lot to hang on to going forward as well.
If there's one thing about The Good Place that seems perfect off the bat though, it's the casting. Eleanor is a deeply flawed person who we really shouldn't be rooting for, but Kristen Bell makes her feel likeable and human, even at her most selfish. Her desire to stay in this place no matter the consequences to the deserving people around her is greedy sure, but can anyone really blame her? Meanwhile, as Michael, who has finally gotten a chance to design his own neighbourhood after a 200-year-long apprenticeship and is devastated that there's a flaw in his perfect system, Ted Danson steals the show. Michael is clearly not used to having an earthly body or dealing with earthly emotions and it comes through in Danson's impeccable line-readings and acting. His desire to have everything be perfect on his first big opportunity is very understandable and can only lead to great things for the show going forward. William Jackson-Harper is no slouch either, playing Chidi with exasperation (who wouldn't be exasperated going to paradise only to find themselves confronted with a selfish mess of a soulmate) and nervousness, but also kindness and empathy. His interactions with Bell were the best parts of the first two episodes and their relationship should prove to be very compelling going forward. As for the supporting players, Tahani, Jianyu and Janet haven't made much of an impression yet (though Jamil nails Tahani's condescending perfectness and D'Arcy scores a few laughs with Janet's matter-of-fact delivery), but given Schur's track record for developing deep ensembles, I'm sure they'll get there in time.
The Good Place has not set an easy bar for itself to clear. It's ambitious and bold and I can imagine it's premise and environment being quite weird and alienating for viewers who prefer their comedies simpler (which is fair, I guess). It doesn't seem like the kind of show that's long for this world. I hope it lasts a couple seasons at least though, because it has the potential to become a show that's truly unique and special on the TV landscape. Everything Is Fine/Flying have introduced us to the world and gotten all the heavy lifting out of the way. Now it's time to watch this show soar.
Memorable Moments
-As mentioned above, I went through the Orientation Video and got all of the positive and negative actions (and most of the point values listed so you don't have to (unless you wanted to). Voila:
Eat a Sandwich +1.04
Buy a Trashy Magazine -.75
Hug Sad Friend +3.67
Plant Baobob Tree in Madagascar +5.25
Stiff a Waitress -3.21
Use "Facebook" as a verb. -5.55
Use the Term "Bro Code" -8.20
Poison A River -4010.55
Disturb Coral Reef with Flipper -55.02
Fix Broken Tricycle For Child Indifferent to Tricyles +1.12
Fix Broken Tricycle For Child Who Loves Tricycles +6.60
Rev a Motorcycle -
-Root For New York Yankees -
Save A Child From Drowning +890.04
Remain Loyal to the Cleveland Browns +53.83
Blow Nose By Pressing Down Nostril and Exhaling -7.14
Tall a Woman to "Smile" -53.83
Remember Sister's Birthday +15.02
Be Commissioner of National Football League (American) -824.55
Purify Water (Village) Pop: >250 +294.26
Ruin Opera With Boorish Behaviour -90.90
Pet A Lamb +3.89
Scratch Elbow +1.10
Step Carefully Over Flower Bed +2.09
Stealing Copper Wire From Decommissioned Military Base -16.00
Maintain Composure in Water Park Line in Houston +60.98
Fail to Disclose Camel Illness When Selling Camel -22.22
Harassment (Sexual) -731.26
Overstate Person Connection to Tragedy That Has Nothing To Do With You -40.77
End Slavery +814292.09
Commit Genocide About -433401.86 (exact value not given)
-As for all the positive actions from the life of the person in the orientation video, I opted not to list them all but these are the highlights
Ate Vegan
Never Discussed Veganism Unprompted
Gave Out Full-Size Candy Bars At Halloween
Self-Monitored Potentially Nauseating Mouth Sounds While Chewing
Began to Compose Social Media Post About David Bowie Dying And Then Thought The World Doesn't Need To Hear My Thoughts on David Bowie
Researched West Indies Test Cricket Tournament Results to Facilitate Conversation with Father-In Law
-As someone who lives in Calgary, the story of Doug Forcett was my favourite joke of the episode (I'm very biased).
-"The bear has two mouths!"- overheard on the Bad Place audio.
-Example of how good everyone else in The Good Place is. "So then he said 'You can't give me both your kidneys. You'll die.' And I said 'but you will live, and I know we just met on this bus 10 minutes ago but you seem nice'".
-"We don't know what it is, how long it'll last or what caused it. What do we know Janet?" "We know where it happened: here".
-Eleanor's favourite "book" is Kendall Jenner's Instagram feed.
-"I have to say this neighbourhood you've built is tuly a masterpiece, the likes of which I've never seen, and I've been to Johnny Depp's private bird sanctuary".
-Some people think of their wedding day or favourite vacation spot to get the joy needed to fly. Eleanor thinks of people puking on roller coasters.
-"We could've literally been flying and all you wanted to do is talk about morals. You're like the worst parts of Superman!"
-Not a memorable moment but just a note that I'm planning to recap The Good Place throughout the season. Will I follow through on this? Hopefully.
No comments:
Post a Comment